


HTTYD-Book-Movie-Modern-AU

by GreatMarta



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AU, Canon - Book & Movie Combination, Gen, Modern AU, book/movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 19:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17269742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatMarta/pseuds/GreatMarta
Summary: Exactly as the title says: HTTYD-Book-Movie-Modern-AU.





	HTTYD-Book-Movie-Modern-AU

**Author's Note:**

> A little something I wrote a while back that seems good enough to put up ^_^

On a bright Winter day, on an island far away, a flaky Viking with a funny name pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket. He has received a new text message, which read: “I believe in you :-)”, sent from ‘Mom’. These few words brought a faint smile to the face of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. He wished he believed in himself too. Which was hard, given he was standing ankle-deep in snow, beneath a giant cliff he was expected to climb, surrounded by people who thought it was going to be a blast.

“Pay attention!” yelled Gobber the Belch, the teacher of the Viking ways. He was six foot tall, with a bright yellow beard that exploded into all directions like fireworks – possibly to compensate for his bald head. While all his students wore wool sweaters underneath leather jackets, he walked around in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Barefoot. Which may have been why his skin was as red as a lobster’s.

“For your first serious mission,” spoke Gobber, “I have chosen Hiccup to command the team.”

Hiccup sighed heavily. He wasn’t surprised, as Gobber had been to his house the night before and discussed today’s mission with his father over a cup of mead. Hiccup’s father had been worried whether the boy was up for the challenge, but Gobber assured him everything would be okay.

“The boy is like a willow,” argued Gobber. “He lets himself be pushed around by the weakest of winds, yet, once a real storm comes, he will be the only one still standing at the end of it. All the other kids, the pines and oaks, will meet their doom when the thunder strikes. But not Hiccup. You’ll see, he’ll surprise you.”

The speech had calmed Hiccup’s father. To an extent, it made Hiccup feel better too. Still, he was realistic enough to realize his peers will not be thrilled about having him in charge. And indeed, they weren’t. The twins – Ruffnut and Tuffnut – snorted. The beautiful and fierce Astrid muttered ‘Just great’, hiding her face in her palm. Snotlout, a bull of a boy with bulging muscles, stepped forwards.

“Hiccup?!” he sneered insolently. “Man, you can’t be serious! Hiccup’s totally useless!”

This, unfortunately, was very much true. Hiccup was thin as a stick and couldn’t even open a jar of nutella with his own two hands – a fact he was deeply ashamed of.

“Even Fishlegs would be better than him!” added Snotlout.

Fishlegs was obese, blind as a jellyfish, and afraid of the dark. Right now his plump hand was resting on Hiccup’s frail shoulder – the only sign on compassion amongst the manifestations of contempt and ridicule. Hiccup appreciated it greatly.

Meanwhile Gobber neared himself to Snotlout, smiling innocently. “What did you say, Snotlout?” chuckled the giant sweetly, leaning closer to the bulky boy. “You want to clean my house, from the basement to the attic? How very kind of you!”

Snotlout opened his mouth to protest, but the dangerous gleam in Gobber’s eyes made him swallow his objections. There was no winning against Gobber the Belch. It was safer to retreat before he charged you with major insubordination.

The giant of a man pat his student on the head, smiling widely. He then proceeded to continue the address. “We have come here today, so you could catch your dragons,” he announced merrily. “As you all know, it is dragons that set us apart from the rest of the world. Lesser humans build machines to travel through land, water and air. Nobody but us, the proud descendants of the true Viking heroes, has the guts to train these magnificent, creatures, wild as the fire itself!” Gobber exclaimed, the air around him burning with true Viking pride. This must have been what kept him warm in this unbearable coldness.

“Now,” continued the giant, “Take a good look at the Wild Dragon Cliff” he indicated the black, sinister cliff, looming dizzily above their heads. From where they stood, they could hear the faint rumble of snoring coming from within it. The snoring of dragons.

Gobber proceeded to explain – for the final time – what the plan was. The teens had to climb the cliff, up to the cave formation shaped roughly like a skull. The right eye of the skull would lead them to the Dragon Nursery. Each of the young Vikings was expected to pick a sleeping baby dragon, put it into a basket, and leave without waking the other dragons up.

“Spoonful of yak milk parfait,” concluded Gobber merrily.

Hiccup and Fishlegs looked at each other nervously. Climbing the cliff was a big challenge in itself. Walking into a cave full of sleeping dragons was pure madness. Even if said dragons were hibernating for the Winter.

“Now, Hiccup,” Gobber addressed the skinny boy, “in the unlikely event of one of your subordinates waking up the dragons, what do you do?”

Hiccup swallowed hard. “Order retreat,” he declared solemnly. “Wait till everybody gets back into the tunnel. Throw an incapacitating grenade into the cave. Run behind the others. Use electric taser if a dragon gets close.”

He’d hate having to do so. It felt difficult just speaking about it. Hiccup loved dragons. Spent long hours observing them, sketching them, learning about them. Thought them to be the most amazing creatures that ever existed. The idea of harming one, even in self defense, made him feel sick. Still, he knew enough about dragons to understand they could be violent. Especially when brutally woken up from their Winter sleep. They were bound to attack blindly whoever disturbed them. The idea of his peers – regardless how little they thought of him – being ripped to shreds disturbed Hiccup even more than the idea of temporarily paralyzing dragons.

Gobber praised Hiccup for answer. Then turned to the other kids. “I assume you all have the necessary equipment?”

They did. Each of them had complete climbing gear, helmets with flashlights, paralyzing tasers, and empty baskets for their dragons. They were as prepared as humanly possible.

“Anybody has questions?” asked Gobber.

Fishlegs shyly rose his hand. “Sir, do we REALLY have to do this?” he asked in a whine. “Why risk our lives and rip those poor babies away from their home? What’s the point?”

Next to Fishlegs, Hiccup froze. He knew his friend disapproved of the Viking ways – they both did. But to declare such heresy in front of Gobber the Belch? This was an even greater madness than entering a cave full of sleeping dragons.

Gobber was so shocked he needed a moment to form a reply. “Point?” he asked, astonished. “POINT?” he repeated angrily, leaning down to face Fishlegs. “It is a TRADITION!” yelled Gobber, causing his student’s glasses to steam up. “This is WHO WE ARE! We’re Vikings! With phones and antibiotics, but Vikings nonetheless!”

“B-b-but,” Fishlegs stuttered hopelessly. “But this is cruel!”

“Cruel!” yelled Gobber. With a dramatic turn, he pointed the cliff. “Our ancestors climbed up there with torches instead of flashlights! With no assurance! No grenades or any means of defense! And you know what?!” Gobber’s tone became dangerously sinister. “Those who came back without a dragon were exiled from the island. Some of them as young as 10. THAT, my plumpy little friend, was cruel. What we do here is keeping our culture alive.”

Fishlegs shivered, staring at his teacher with wide eyes. Seeing that the rebellion was pacified, Gobber smiled widely, pat the boy on the shoulder and backed off.

“You kids will thank us adults one day,” declared the giant with a chuckle. “Your peers all over the world waste their lives staring into colorful pictures in a magic box. Their parents are too lazy to prepare them for real life. Without their devices and artificial intelligence, they would be lost. You, my heroes in training, already know more and can do more than an average adult from the outer world. You do have your phones, but you also have the traditional upbringing. It is traditions that kept us strong to this day. It is thanks to traditions that we will prevail, even when all the other nations will perish.”

Gobber regarded his students with gentleness and pride. “You kids are the future of Berk. You will be working for my retirement pension. Do me this favor and grow into proper Vikings, will you?”

“YES SIR!” yelled the four boys and two girls, moved to the core.

Gobber clapped his hands. “Alright then! Death or glory!”

“DEATH OR GLORY!” yelled two boys and two girls.

‘DEATH?!’ thought Hiccup and Fishlegs.

“Off you go!” Gobber gave Hiccup a powerful pat on the back. “Good luck there, lad! I’ll drop by to fire an arrow into your burial boat!” he exclaimed and laughed hysterically at his own joke.

Hiccup swallowed hard. He had a very, very bad feeling about this.

 


End file.
